KOPEK Payment System as a Licensing Solution for Software

Abstract

The KOPEK Payment System supports payment of online content or services as well as single sign in. Setting up the KOPEK Payment System is easy, the system consist of the KOPEK Payment Server as well as an end user client. The server is installed so that it will be exposed to the desired customers, usually directly on the Internet. It can be installed in front an existing web server that handles more advanced content or services than the KOPEK Payment Server itself supports. Access to the content or the service will then be controlled by the rules configured in the KOPEK Payment Server. The KOPEK client application will be used from any end user who will access that content in order to identify the end user and make sure the user has met the requirements defined in the KOPEK Payment Server. Simple license control over personal licenses can be achieved by creating a web page and make the KOPEK Payment Server control access to that web page. An application can then try to access that web page and will only proceed if the web page can be read. If the web page cannot be read, the end user hasn t met the requirements defined in the KOPEK Payment Server and hence the end user doesn t have a valid license. This results in support for quite advanced copy protection when using the KOPEK Payment System. The copy protection can be further enhanced by also using the KOPEK Payment Systems support for centralized electronic identification systems, like the Norwegian BankID or BuyPass. In the market there exists some solutions that have specialized in license control and copy protection. These solutions seem to cover most of the more advanced licensing models, but none of these solutions can supply both a complete solution for license control and copy protection as well as a solution for electronic distribution of the licenses. There would probably be a market for such complete solutions and since the KOPEK Payment System already support both electronic distribution of licenses and can be used for simple license control an expansion of the KOPEK Payment System to also support more advanced license control. However, the KOPEK Payment System has some obvious weaknesses when it comes to dependence on an Internet connection and that both the company responsible for the KOPEK Payment System central servers as well as the company responsible for the KOPEK Payment Server used for license control can continue to keep the servers operative.